


the cubicle...well, the cubicle was still grey

by BuzzCat



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Soulmate AU, that soulmate AU where you see color when you're around your soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 11:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13902813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuzzCat/pseuds/BuzzCat
Summary: As soon as Donna stepped into Adipose Industry’s building, she froze. Was it her imagination, or did that plant look…green? Less grey? Maybe it was the lighting. But as Donna fibbed her way into the building, she started seeing color. That woman had hair like the sunlight streaming through the windows. That man had terrible corduroy pants the color of the walls in the lobby. Those cubicles, well those cubicles were still grey but not the point. Donna was seeing color and she whipped her head around, looking for him. Her Doctor.A soulmate AU where the closer you are to your soulmate, the better you see color





	the cubicle...well, the cubicle was still grey

As soon as Donna stepped into Adipose Industry’s building, she froze. Was it her imagination, or did that plant look…green? Less grey? Maybe it was the lighting. But as Donna fibbed her way into the building, she started seeing color. That woman had hair like the sunlight streaming through the windows. That man had terrible corduroy pants the color of the walls in the lobby. Those cubicles, well those cubicles were still grey but not the point. Donna was seeing color and she whipped her head around, looking for him. Her Doctor.

She’d been a fool, letting him go the first time. She’d seen color, but it hadn’t felt right. He hadn’t said anything different, seen anything different. It was a one-way soulmate connection. It wasn’t unheard of, just rather rare. _Just my luck,_ thought Donna at the time, _my soulmate interrupts my wedding and doesn’t bother to even like me back._ But she hadn’t said anything because it was rather clear that the man was mourning someone. She thought it was his soulmate, but he hadn’t said anything about it, so maybe not. Once he had left, Donna had tried to get back to life. She hadn’t told anyone, not even Gramps, that he’d made her see color. After all, he was clearly busy doing other things and Donna couldn’t just up and abandon her Mum and Gramps without any notice. She’d lived this long without a soulmate, she could live longer without one. It was after she got back from grey Egypt that she realized she was quite wrong. Every day, there was something that she wanted to tell the Doctor. There wasn’t any guarantee he’d care about whatever she was talking about, but it was nice to pretend. If he was her soulmate, he’d probably at least humor her. It was a different kind of torture from marrying someone who wasn’t her soulmate; she’d found her soulmate and she’d let him go. _Stupid stupid stupid,_ Donna had thought, mentally kicking herself.

But now, she just might be able to fix it. If she was seeing color, there was someone here who was her soulmate and Donna would be damned if she let him slip through her fingers again. Still, she had to be patient. Adipose Industries was up to something and if Donna was going to find him, her best chance was to investigate. She’d heard of friends chasing their soulmate around a building for hours, running through cubicle mazes and ending up on different floors. If she was a bit patient and attentive, she’d find him eventually.

Donna left that day slightly more hopeful. Visiting Stacy had been an interesting moment, color getting stronger and dimmer with each footstep. He was near, she just knew it. She could practically feel him near her. But the only footsteps she heard were her own and the only colors she saw soon were grey and black. Even in that moment, when Donna just wanted to sit on the pavement and have a good cry, she knew that she’d find him. This Adipose business wasn’t over yet, so the Doctor couldn’t be gone yet. Even as she walked back to her car (which looked slightly less grey), Donna knew that she’d find him again.

The next morning, as Donna snuck into Adipose Industries, she paid attention to the colors around her. Yes, that was definitively less grey than expected. The Doctor was close and as Donna stepped into the ladies’ stalls to wait, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter of butterflies. Even if he didn’t like her back, he was close enough that she just might be able to steal away that man with his mad blue box.

All afternoon, she sat in the bathroom stall and looked at the white floor. She’d caught a glimpse of her hair in the mirror earlier and had stopped, transfixed. Her hair was reddish, orange-ish. Were those red and orange? Damn, she’d never really checked. Normally when people saw color they asked a friend to clarify colors or checked the Internet. As Donna was hiding, she could do neither and instead passed at least an hour twirling her hair between her fingers, marveling at the way it looked in the fluorescent lights. Was this what people saw when they looked at her? It was…rather nice, actually. Donna liked her hair color.

When evening finally came and the woman in charge had dragged that reporter out, Donna slowly crept out of the bathroom. She followed the sound of faint voices through the building, unsure if the brighter colors were just her imagination or if she was really getting closer to her Doctor. She poked up head up in the circular window and was almost blinded with the vibrancy of the colors. And there, across the room and behind another window, was the Doctor. His brown hair was an absolute mess, which Donna wasn’t surprised about. He still had the same bloody blue suit on and now that Donna got a proper look at it, it looked a nice color on him. Donna couldn’t contain her excitement or wild gesticulations. It was only when the blonde lady (yes, she was fairly certain that was blonde) saw them that she ran. Seeing him in the stairwell made her laugh with excitement. Oh, she’d forgotten how wonderful it was to see color, just for a little while. He hugged her and Donna held on just as tightly. Now that she had color, the rest of her senses felt just that little bit stronger. She felt his body heat, what little that skinny bloke gave off, seep into her arms and realized that the building was actually a bit cold.

“You’re back! You and your brown hair and stupid same blue suit are back!”

“Yes, yes I’m back. And Donna Noble, brilliant as always, still here! Oh, it’s good to see you,” he said, big grin and all.


End file.
